Mother+Culture+Collage

=Mother Culture Collage=

[ Overview ]
//"Mother Culture, whose voice has been in your ear since the day of your birth, has given you an explanation of how things came to be this way. You know it well; everyone in your culture knows it well. But this explanation wasn't given to you all at once...you assembled this explanation like a mosaic: from a million bits of information presented to you in various ways by others who share that explanation."//

//"Once you learn to discern the voice of Mother Culture humming in the background, telling her story over and over again to the people of your culture, you’ll never stop being conscious of it. Wherever you go for the rest of your life, you’ll be tempted to say to the people around you, ‘How can you listen to this stuff and not recognize it for what it is?’"//

For this assignment, you will create a collage that represents what Mother Culture tells us as a people. While completing this assignment, it may help to bear in mind the following definitions put forth by Ishmael:
 * 1) **Story** -- A story is a scenario interrelating man, the world, and the gods.
 * 2) To **enact** -- To enact a story is to live so as to make the story a reality. In other words, to enact a story is to strive to make it come true.
 * 3) **Culture** -- A culture is a people enacting a story.

Your collage, then, should answer two key questions:
 * Who are we as a people?
 * What are we trying to enact? (In other words, what is the story we are trying to make come true?)

[ Directions ]

 * 1) Brainstorm answers to the two questions above using a method of your choice (e.g. freewrite, list, word web/concept map).
 * 2) Cut out images and/or words (from magazines, the internet, etc.) that represent your answers. Be sure to gather enough to completely cover your paper.
 * 3) Arrange your images and/or words in a creative, aesthetically pleasing way and glue them to your paper.
 * 4) Write a detailed 2-3 paragraph response that explains your answers to the questions above and how your collage represents these responses. Make specific references to as many of the images and/or words in your collage as possible.
 * 5) Type your response (with proper heading and formatting -- 12 point Times New Roman, double spaced, 1" margins), print it, and glue it to the back of your collage.

[ Requirements ]

 * Your collage and written statement must answer the questions listed above.
 * Your written statement must be at least 2-3 paragraphs in length and must explain specific parts of your collage in detail.
 * Your collage and written statement should show evidence of unique, creative, critical thought.
 * The images and/or words used in your collage must completely cover your paper (i.e. no colored paper should be visible).

[ Grading and Due Date ]
Your finished collage and written statement will be graded primarily on completeness and creativity, in addition to how well they meet the requirements above. This assignment is worth 100 points. Finished collages will be presented in class on **Thursday, September 13**.

[ Self-Assessment ]
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